Middle Class Dismissed

Japanese companies using ‘banishment rooms’ to push employees to resign

"While business circles are trying to make it smoother and easier for companies to let go of employees (with full benefits of course) they feel lack initiative and drive and are not a good fit, it’s having a reverse effect on employers. Those who want to fire certain workers but cannot bring themselves to do so are using 'banishment rooms' to indirectly force them to resign on their own. Basically, banishment rooms are departments where companies transfer surplus employees and give them menial or useless tasks or even nothing to do until they become depressed or disheartened enough to quit on their own, thus not getting full benefits, unlike if they were actually let go." Continue reading →

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Basta ‘La Casta’: No End in Sight to Italy’s Economic Decline

"Italy, despite being the third-largest economy in the euro zone after Germany and France, finds itself in dire straits, having been in decline for years. Its GDP has dropped by 7 percent since 2007. But economic growth only tells part of the story. More than half a million industrial jobs have been lost since 2007, and 15 percent of the country's industrial capacity is gone, says Luca Paolazzi, head of research for Confindustria, Italy's leading industry association. Paolazzi, Italy is experiencing an 'unprecedented process of deindustrialization.' According to Confindustria, the Italian economy faces a tax burden that is 20 percent higher than in Germany." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBasta ‘La Casta’: No End in Sight to Italy’s Economic Decline

Spanish Pension Raids Spell Bad News for Bond Sales

"Spain’s Treasury may find one of its best customers less eager to buy its bonds as budget woes lead Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to raid a government piggy-bank for a second year. Created in 2000 to guarantee pension payments in times of hardship, the 59.3 billion-euro ($78 billion) Fondo de Reserva was tapped for the first time in December for 7 billion euros to fund Christmas bonuses and a monthly increase for retirees. Further withdrawals will have taken an additional 4.5 billion euros by the end of this month, helping to pay for pensioners’ summer bonuses and tax refunds." Continue reading →

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‘Neighbor vs. neighbor’ in US cities, Meredith Whitney says

"Meredith Whitney painted a dire picture in a CNBC interview Wednesday of cities slashing services and communities battling for mere survival. The financial advisor and analyst said the financial woes facing bankrupt Detroit will become common around the country as local governments do whatever they can to escape onerous debt burdens. 'I think you're going to see a real issue of neighbor against neighbor on these very issues,' she said during a 'Closing Bell' conversation. 'That has been glossed over for years. What's at stake are social services we count on.'" Continue reading →

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Are You Earning More or Less Than the US Median Income?

"Median weekly earnings of the nation's 104.2 million full-time wage and salary workers were $776 in the second quarter of 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Among men, those age 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings, $1,007 and $1,023, respectively. Usual weekly earnings were highest for women age 35 to 64; weekly earnings were $760 for women age 35 to 44, $767 for women age 45 to 54, and $789 for women age 55 to 64. Workers age 16 to 24 had the lowest median weekly earnings, at $452." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave

"In China, the 'bare branches' — young men who couldn’t find wives — started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851-68, cost over 100,000 lives and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today’s young people accept their lot… and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces… rampage down Wall Street… and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

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Prices Fuel Outrage in Brazil; ’46 New Tax Rules Per Day’

"Brazil’s street protests grew out of a popular campaign against bus fare increases. Renting an apartment in coveted areas of Rio has become more expensive than in Oslo, the capital of oil-rich Norway. Soaring prices for basic foods like tomatoes prompted parodies of President Dilma Rousseff and her economic advisers. Inflation stands at about 6.4 percent, with many in the middle class complaining that they are bearing the brunt of price increases. Companies grapple with 88 federal, state and municipal taxes, a number of which are charged directly to consumers. The Brazilian authorities issue an estimated 46 new tax rules every day." Continue reading →

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EU plan to cut credit and debit card fees is confirmed

"Plans to cut transaction fees on debit and credit cards in the European Union have been published - but there is disagreement over the potential impact. The European Commission estimates that the EU payment market is worth 130bn euros (£112bn) but is 'fragmented and expensive'. It wants to cap 'interchange fees' to a maximum of 0.3% of a transaction. The fees involved are paid by shops and businesses to banks, every time a consumer uses his or her card. But banks argue that consumers will instead end up paying higher charges to use debit and credit cards." Continue reading →

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25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head

"On Thursday, we learned that the decision had been made for the city of Detroit to formally file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. It was going to be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States by far, but on Friday it was stopped at least temporarily by an Ingham County judge. How 'honoring the president' has anything to do with the bankruptcy of Detroit is a bit of a mystery, but what that judge has done is ensured that there will be months of legal wrangling ahead over Detroit's money woes. But one thing is for sure - the city of Detroit is flat broke. One of the greatest cities in the history of the world is just a shell of its former self." Continue reading →

Continue Reading25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head

Ron Paul: Bernanke’s Farewell Tour

"Last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered what may well be his last Congressional testimony before leaving the Federal Reserve in 2014. Unfortunately, his farewell performance was full of contradictory comments about the state of the economy and the effects of Fed policies on the market. One thing Bernanke inadvertently made clear was that the needs of Wall Street trump Main street, the economy, and sound money. Quantitative easing (QE) and effectively zero interest rates have created paper prosperity, but now the Fed must continuously assure Wall Street that the QE spigot will not be turned off." Continue reading →

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